New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-10-02
COMMODORE AND CATS.
yrom The boston TranscriD.


The Listener has a new story Of Commodore Van
dcridr, which cones to him from a source 20 likely
to lie authentic thar he cannot DOUBT H. INC So on,
kindly to removing from staten i-lalf t. Ncw-hOrA
city yhea h' affair T d 1ssa" BgO hlr I hi.
lie bought just In the outskirts OF the city
whcre b, thought n coull b. sure Of comParati' 9
quiet lie found n comfortable phoe clg-c by a
graveyard. Nth no. many houses about him' anu
ctlo,l down
,cyei't"n 10 lam in-t.aI OF the Abso u'sy quie,
surroundings u Ma Island home. he hal an atmo--
,E,,:s1rd cata The nclghborhood must have been,
he wa c6nviny-4, fayonte rc,cIt for adj I'll" cat
and hooked on hls back fence, p'rceu - she'd
root. and caierwsUlrd madly al night long. lic
slept scarcely Eve minutes al timo The nett nght
the sarno performance was repeated. and the next.
Instead OF getting used IN II, the commodore was get
ting more and nervous aud slcpt less and les.
The and tear began TO tell ON him
Vanderbilt hal his boots blche'i every morning
making an arrangement with the boy In ORDER get
he shine reasonably cheap. one morning he sat down
ia the boys chair with such weary air and with 50
haggarl look on his tco that tho boy a,kcd sym
pathcticaly:
"wots de matter, customcrl-
The commodore, for want Of = bettfr COMPLIANT,
opened his heart to the bootOacs and told him the
narrowing tale Of the cats.
"wot1i yer give me boss" said the boy an III
clean ont all de cats for your"
apiece for every cat you Kill in yard" said tho
IAN right, customer" said the bootbIach an be
That night the commodore slept "a he had not slept
ing with the delightful sense Of having slcpt only
about fifteen minutes, and yet knowing that hc had
his bOoibiach sitting on the front step.
"IIowd YOU sleep, bcss ?" asked the boy.
'Sriendtlly YONG man. spendidiy"
"Yot cat. How much do owe vouln
"Come round In the back yard an we'n sce,- said
the boy.
They went around to tho back yard. There were
TWO rough-ioDIhnx youngsters sitting the fence,
and on the ground was pile OF dead cats that nlao
the commodore turn pale
"For heavens AXE, bow many cats hare you got
wen trow em over in anodcr pile, boss" said
tic lootblacll. San YOU kin 'em up."
The boy began 10 toss the eats deliberately,
and the commodore counted until he had got up 10
Hold on ! T6ai' do. SEQ here: III give You
three fellows just five dollars apiece. That's big
pay for nights wjrit."
cant do 1t boss" said the bootblacls, I'vo male
do ARRANGEMENT wild desc gentlemen here. an dc
understanding l. n dollar apiece for dc cats"
"well won't give you but l,e dollars each all
around said tho commodore
lie pulled out the money and shook IL In their
fsccs but the boys refused to take IT, Finally they
withdrew In silence, leaving the commodore, aroused
to "set even with him." and made their plans acs
cordnty
very long before he reused by the most uneartMy
c1terwauling that he bad ever heard In his life. He
woke with the impression that there staels
were at least On the window sill Of his room ' BIt
presently 10 became aware that thew were somewhere
longer, and seized a loaded pistol that was in n
bureau drawer and blazed away one, two, three
shots, at what seemed to be the OF the dis
IN 1ae from Ihsa he henrd CRY and
dressed partially and went out into the found
there writing In palm. the policeman the beat.
with ball from the cOmflodOrc's revoV or IN HIS leg
He also found n large glnnv bag IN which was n
vrigeng. plunging Of cats, al of thes bowling
now with fury rcdOublcd by the episode OF tho
shooting. The policeman was able to explain that
he had what seemed to be a Wild animal OF
extraordinary prorCrttOns. which made n noise HE
a hundred cats plungng around tho conimodore's
lawn and had come over TO investigate and no suoncr
had he discovered that the object wns big gnnv-bac
full and had prepared to release the animals
than the commodore hal opened fire him from the
window, with disastrous effect
TIE policeman sued Vanderbilt for damages and
the commodore had To pay him thousand dollars
"a, settc-a fact which became quite generally known.
As to The cats. he knew where they came from. bur
the peculiar and unfinished nature OF the transaction
with the bovs prevented him from mentioning II,
from breaking with the bootblack, who continued to
shine his bIofs Of wore. The dav after the
,noore had settled with the policeman the looked
up nom his box and remarked
asleep well last night, boss ?"
Tho commodore only Rrunfed In response
aAny cats. Dowadaysl"
Tho commodore jumped up from the chair. ~,
Won kill that night ?"
"Nirety-tbree. boss"
The commodore pulled out his check-book and hastily
drew q check -.
xou ever say eats to again Ia your llfe nor talk
about this thing to anybody elss- or III break every
''ae Agreed boss. said tho boy q - pocoted tho
check